Crashley has hand in world teams title

WORLD CHAMPS: The New Zealand golf croquet team beat Egypt in the final in London to win the David Openshaw Shield for the Golf Croquet Teams Championship. They are (from left): Duncan Dixon, Jenny Clarke and her husband Chris Clarke, Phillip Drew and manager Mike Crashley, who developed his croquet on Gisborne greens. Croquet New Zealand picture

FORMER Gisborne croquet player Mike Crashley has had a hand in New Zealand’s world championship success in golf croquet.

A member of Gisborne’s Barry Memorial Croquet Club until this year, Crashley managed the New Zealand team at the golf croquet world teams championship at Surbiton Croquet Club in London last month.

He was also a reserve in the event of any of the four New Zealand representatives being unable to play. Golf croquet is a simpler form of the traditional association croquet.

Crashley was a member of the New Zealand golf croquet team that contested the world championship in South Africa four years ago. On that occasion, New Zealand narrowly lost to Egypt in the final.

Egypt were hot favourites to retain their title but New Zealand turned the tables on their rivals and clinched the final when they got to an unassailable 7-5 lead.

Tier 1 competitionNew Zealand and Egypt were in the eight-nation Tier 1 competition. The other countries were the United States, Ireland, Sweden, England, South Africa and Wales.

Tier 2 and Tier 3 world competitions were held at the same time. Mike Crashley and his wife Sandra came to New Zealand over 40 years ago and raised their family in Dunedin. After Mike and Sandra retired to Gisborne in 2004, Mike took up an invitation from inaugural world croquet champion Joe Hogan to give the game a go.

While Hogan had made his mark in association croquet, winning the world title in 1989, Crashley particularly enjoyed golf croquet, which is to association croquet what Twenty20 is to longer forms of cricket.

Egyptians have dominated golf croquet championships since the first world tournament was held in Italy in 1996. Crashley might have taken part as a playing member of the world championship-winning team last month had it not been for a string of events that kept him away from the greens.

He and Sandra had to abandon their house, which was slipping down a hillside at the end of Wallis Road. With Sandra needing wheelchair access in any new home, they found what they needed in Opotiki and shifted to the Bay of Plenty.

Although suitable, the house needed extensive renovations. And amid all this, it was discovered that Mike needed knee surgery.

Now recovered from the surgery, Crashley has resumed playing golf croquet. He and Sandra paid their own way to England to support the New Zealand team in any way they could, Mike serving as team manager and reserve player.

That support has been repaid with the shared satisfaction of a world teams title.